When will Alien Life be Found on Exoplanets?

How long will it be before we find alien life on exoplanets? Exoplanet astronomer Dr. Ryan MacDonald explains how biosignatures can be found in exoplanet atmospheres. He also reveals how the discovery of the first close-in planet around a white dwarf could dramatically accelerate the hunt for alien life beyond the solar system with the James Webb Space Telescope.

***** Chapters *****

0:00 - Introduction
1:15 - Worlds Beyond Earth
2:26 - Early Exoplanet Discoveries
4:10 - Transiting Exoplanets
5:26 - Transmission Spectroscopy
6:24 - Exoplanet Atmospheres
9:15 - The James Webb Space Telescope
10:33 - Signatures of Life on Earth
14:57 - Exoplanet Biosignatures
16:34 - The Small Star Opportunity
17:52 - Case Study: TRAPPIST-1
19:44 - When Stars Die
20:51 - White Dwarfs
22:27 - The Discovery of WD 1856b
24:04 - Earth-like Planets Around White dwarfs
25:10 - The White Dwarf Opportunity

***** Animations and media *****

Most animations and graphics used here were produced by NASA, ESA, and ESO. Special thanks to Jack Madden for producing the renders of an Earth-like planet around a white dwarf.

***** Music *****

All credit to Aakash Gandhi for creating the two inspirational tracks included in this video and for releasing them into the public domain.

----- Further information -----

● 'Revealing the Nature of Exoplanetary Atmospheres' (my PhD thesis):

● 'The Astrobiology Primer v2.0':

● 'How to Characterize Habitable Worlds and Signs of Life':

● 'Exoplanet Biosignatures: A Review of Remotely Detectable Signs of Life':

● 'The White Dwarf Opportunity: Robust Detections of Molecules in Earth-like Exoplanet Atmospheres with the James Webb Space Telescope':

● 'A giant planet candidate transiting a white dwarf':

● 'Atmospheric Retrieval of Exoplanets' (Martian Colonist video):

#Exoplanet #AlienLife #JWST

[Whataboutit]

Finally had the time to watch the whole video! I am so extremely looking forward to your discoveries with JamesWebb! Thank you, Ryan, for showing us alien worlds!

[exoplanets]

Great video. I hope we find alien life soon !!

[Cscuile]

Coming back to this, I still can't believe it only has 12k views. It deserves to have millions.

[Asphalt]

Hello Dr. Ryan, just wanted to tell you how thoroughly I enjoyed this amazing video. Anticipating amazing researches once the telescope is complete. Your narration is beautiful.

[sleepyboi]

Also this is top tier content. Like fucking top tier man. You deserve 100ks more subs and views. This is amazing.

[BrentsTreehouse]

I carried Sagan's Cosmos everywhere when I was in grade 7, a big heavy book that I took out of my backpack to read when I had any extra time.

[Nomad-pkxz]

It really is great having real researchers taking the time to inform us on these fascinating topics.

[lakshaygupta]

Yours is one terrific space channel, keep it up!

[spaceintel]

Incredible video mate, thank you for your dedication towards exploration and astronomy of our star and beyond!

[shotgunblast]

I really enjoyed your video. I’m a new subscriber. I’m impressed by your organization and the manner in which you explain things. Thank you for your videos

[FairyWeatherMan]

Excellent video. You have a flair for explaining difficult to grasp subjects in a very clear way. Thanks for your efforts, channels like yours are the real treasure trove of Youtube.

[ChristopherHitchens.]

Excellent content, really enjoyed the insight provided, and answering some of my questions! Can you possibly eleborate more on an angle from or regarding the Extremely Large Telescope vs JWST, as to which one will be more advanced/helpful in answering the question of life on exoplanets. Basically should I be more excited about the ELT or the JWST to providing us with the answer? I've been more excited about the ELT, but as a layman I have no idea which one will be better with the analysis of the atmospheres of rocky exoplanets etc? Thank you in advance!

[puff-justincorbitt]

Amazing insight! A little on the quiet side tho. Had to turn volume up.

[JynxedKoma]

0:24 *[Wheezing laughter]* "Look at the top of his heeeadd!!!"

[TheFuturistTom]

I’ve been watching Martian Colonist for a while now! They’ve inspired me to make my own channel!!

[jadefinchscene]

And done. I have now watched all of your videos. I made an effort to comment on any that gave me questions, or needed clarification. you have responded to nearly all of them, and probably just haven't had time too see some of the more recent comments. I for one love the accessibility of video information. one thing i must have missed along the way, but you hinted at after the fact is the current status of Mars One? I love how well you stay neutral about many of the things your videos discuss. I love other channels for exactly the opposite reasons. Both are critical to my way of forming my own opinions, and developing my learning process. I look forward to further content from you.
I would love to get involved in your discord.
Happy new 2021!

[Frank-Obeewonknobe]

Wow! You’re Amazing! Thank you for your clarity and wonderful information.

[hyperlinguist]

Wow! I'm glad I've come across this video. Excellent.

[jeffreygrove]

Great video! Unfortunately, I don't have access to the full astrophysical article - I am not a full time professor at an institution. Thanks for the presentation.

[bjarnes.]

Since exoplanets around white dwarfs are easy to detect, yet just one has been found, they seem to be quite rare this close